1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyor system comprising a delivery tube having an intake end, a discharge end, an endless conveyor belt having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein a delivery portion of said endless belt is positioned within said tube and wherein a return portion of said endless belt is positioned outside said tube, a drive assembly mechanically connected to said endless belt for rotating said endless belt for moving it in said tube from the intake to the discharge end, and a plurality of mechanical conveyor means projecting from said top surface of said endless belt.
Such a conveyor system may be used for transporting different types of materials, especially bulk materials such as chips, cement, gravel and other type of solid material from the location of said intake end to the location of said discharge end of the delivery tube.
The conveyor system may be used within industrial plants, such as in paper mills, as well as on the field, for instance in or in connection to mines. The conveyor system may be stationary as well as mobile.
The distance between said two locations may be arbitrary, but it is often in the region of 20 meters to 300 meters.
An advantage of a conveyor system having a delivery tube for the transport of the endless conveyor built therein is that the level of noise generated thereby is much lower than for a conveyor system with an open path for the conveyor belt, such as a conventional conveyor, for example a scraper conveyor or reclaiming scraper.
Furthermore, the arrangement of said plurality of mechanical conveyor means projecting from said top surface of the endless belt improves the possibilities to efficiently transport material by the conveyor system from one location to another location at a higher level than the former. Thus, a conveyor system of this type is suitable to be used as a reclaiming scraper while inclining the delivery tube.
Said plurality of mechanical conveyor means may have various appearances adapted to the nature of the material to be transported, such as for example having a paddle-like character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conveyor system of the type mentioned in the introduction is already known through U.S. patent application publication No. 2002/0139643 A1. Although such a conveyor system functions well when used to transport material between two locations located at different levels, it has some disadvantages.
In a conveyor system of this type having an endless belt provided with said mechanical conveyor means it is for the transport of some materials not possible to efficiently remove all the material from the endless belt at said discharge end of the delivery tube by means of brushes or the like, but some material will adhere to the belt when turning into said return portion. Furthermore, such material not removed from the endless belt will as a consequence of the gravitation and possible vibrations of the belt fall down from said return portion when the belt is moved towards said intake end, which under certain circumstances may result in a not neglectable loss of material.